After another exciting week in the madcap, rock and roll, ever-changing world of town and country planning, it was striking to read this from Everton manager Sean Dyche in a Sunday Times interview with Matthew Syed. “And I think love is shown by telling the truth. The whole truth. Sometimes, the brutal truth. Sure, you need to say it respectfully. Sometimes, you need to say it gently. But unless you are prepared to say it how it is, you are misleading someone. Maybe even lying to them. But this is the problem in the world today: people prefer perception over reality.” The reality of the housing crisis is the image below that was included in a Sunday Times article the week before in which Housing Secretary Michael Gove sought to make the case for new homes on the basis that, if young people cannot live in their own, they might give up on democracy and capitalism (and the Conservative Party). The public’s perception of the housing crisis, the Housing Secretary hopes, is that the Go...
Hello. My name is Sam, I am a Town Planner and I sometimes write about town planning-related things (in my own time and as an expression of my own opinions). I used to podcast, there is a link to that on this page somewhere, and I circulate a newsletter from time to time. There is a link to that somewhere as well. Should you be so inclined, I am on Bluesky (@samuelstafford.bsky.social) and Instagram (@samuel__stafford).